After purchasing Big Machine Label Group, including Taylor Swift’s masters, Scooter Braun sells these on just 18 months later.

Scooter Braun purchased Big Machine Label Group in June last year for around $330m, this acquisition included the master rights to Taylor Swift’s first six albums recorded before the artist signed with Universal Music Group in 2018.

After the acquisition, Taylor Swift said “This is my worst case scenario.” “Never in my worst nightmares did I imagine the buyer would be Scooter.” Describing how upset she was that Scooter Braun could own and generate revenue from much of her life’s work, describing him as “the definition of toxic male privilege in our industry.”

This week saw Scooter Braun selling the master rights to Taylor Swift’s albums to investment fund Shamrock Holdings for an estimated $300m-450m. This marks a massive win for Scooter, after acquiring the entire label for a similar amount just 18 months ago.

Taylor Swift released a statement and an open letter to Shamrock, describing her negotiations with Scooter when trying to buy back her masters.

According to the statement, Shamrock Holdings wanted to let Taylor Swift know they were in the process of purchasing her music, however Scooter Braun required they made no contact with her or the deal was off. Swift considered entering into a partnership with Shamrock, however the terms of the deal says Scooter will continue to earn a profit off her older music. Because of this, Swift has started to re-record her old music.

Since, Shamrock have released a statement supporting Taylor Swift’s decision:

Taylor Swift is a transcendent artist with a timeless catalog. We made this investment because we believe in the immense value and opportunity that comes with her work. We fully respect and support her decision and, while we hoped to formally partner, we also knew this was a possible outcome that we considered. We appreciate Taylor’s open communication and professionalism with us these last few weeks. We hope to partner with her in new ways moving forward and remain committed to investing with artists in their work.

Shamrock Holdings